


The Time That You Would Never Trade

by ZiraFell



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, I destroyed Season five and picked out the parts I wanted from the ashes, M/M, Timeline What Timeline, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 17:27:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22499782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiraFell/pseuds/ZiraFell
Summary: Fiona and the Gallaghers don't get to see much of Ian and Mickey being a couple, especially in those first few years. And then all of a sudden, their brother is spending more time at the Milkovich house then with them, and when they do see him, he's got that kid with him. The Gallaghers are convinced that Ian is being taken advantage of, so they try to find evidence of it.The only thing they end up finding is domesticity and fluff.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich & Svetlana Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 16
Kudos: 377





	The Time That You Would Never Trade

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago, it hasn't been beta'd. I wanted Ian, Mickey, and Svetlana as a family unit taking care of each other and Yevgeny. 
> 
> Title is from The Luck You Got by The High Strung (The Shameless theme song).

Fiona was the first to notice that Ian wasn't spending as much time at the Gallagher house. She'd been sorting through clean laundry in the living room, folding Lip's jeans and Debbie's t-shirts, when she realized that she hadn't found a single article of Ian's clothes in the wash. 

"Ian!" She called, pairing a few holey socks together. 

After a few moments of silence, she sighed and stood to make her way to the boys bedroom. She pushed the door open and stopped suddenly as she took in the sight.

Ian's bed was bare, all his drawers were emptied, and there was nothing under the bed. It hadn't been so clean since before they'd lived there. 

Her first thought was that Frank must have gotten in and stolen anything he thought looked valuable, but she quickly dismissed that when she saw that nothing of Lip's or Carl's had been touched. 

She began looking around the house to see if she could find anything that belonged to Ian, but everything was gone. She was about to panic and call Lip when she heard the front door open.

"Fi?"

Her heart calmed down slightly when she heard Ian's voice.

"Ian." She breathed. "What happened to all your stuff?"

"My stuff?" He asked in confusion as he pushed a stroller through the door.

He had that kid with him again, the one from the russian whore.

"Yeah, all your stuff is gone. And what's with the kid? You babysitting now?"

Ian snorted as he pulled the kid from the stroller.

"I don't think it's babysitting if you've been there for the kids entire life. Isn't that right, Yev?" Ian bounced the baby who giggled with a gummy smile. "And what are you talking about, all my stuff is at home, Fi."

"No, it's not! I was just up in your room and it's all gone!" She insisted.

He gave her a pitying look.

"Fiona, I didn't mean here. I've been living with Mickey and Lana for almost a month now."

Her heart stopped as she considered that. A month. How could she have not noticed one of her siblings moving out for that long? Why hadn't she noticed?

"Hey, it's fine. It's not a big deal, I'm here all the time. You're busy, it just slipped your notice." He tried to soothe her.

"…A month."

Ian adjusted the kid, Yev, on his hip as he nodded. The baby grizzled and gnawed at his fist, and Ian absentmindedly pulled the tiny hand down.

"Yeah, since I was over there all the time, we figured we'd make it easier on all four of us if I just moved in. Then I can help out with Yev at night, too. We think he's starting to teethe." He added as a side note.

Fiona looked at him like he had grown another head.

"Ian…you know he's not your kid, right?"

Ian's demeanor grew slightly colder, and she had to stop herself from taking it back.

"Yevgeny doesn't have to have my genes to be mine. You of all people should know that."

"That's not the same, Ian. You were all my family. Mickey and that woman, they're married. That's their kid. Why do they have you watching it?" She prodded.

She didn't think it was possible for Ian to look even more pissed. She was wrong.

"That woman is named Svetlana, and _it_ ," He bit out. "Is named Yevgeny. Their marriage is so Lana doesn't get deported. She offered to get divorced, and Mickey and I refused when she admitted it would leave her in danger like that. She's our friend. Yevgeny is our kid. We're an unconventional family, but considering that my dad is a deadbeat drunk, Mickey's dad is an abusive asshole, and Lana's dad sold her to a pimp for three hundred bucks, I think we're doing okay."

Ian started strapping the fussing toddler back into his stroller, gentle despite his tense muscles.

"Ian, I just meant-"

"I gotta go, Fiona. We can talk next time." 

She kept her mouth shut as he left, already thinking of ways to get him back home. Those two, that dirty thug and the russian whore, they were taking advantage of him. And she was going to prove it.

__

The plan was simple. Show up unexpectedly to the Milkovich house to get proof, and then get Ian out. The whole Gallagher clan, minus Ian, were in on it. The first one to make a move had been Lip.

He waited until a day when he knew Ian had nothing to do, and then he let himself in. He walked as quietly as possible so that they didn't have time to hide anything, but they wouldn't have been able to hear him over their cheers anyway. When he found them in the living room, the couch and coffee table had been moved to make space, and all three of the adults sat in a triangle formation, with the kid at the center. He hid behind a wall so they wouldn't be able to see him.

"Come on, Yev, you can do it!" Ian held his arms out and the toddler laughed and started to shakily walk toward Ian.

"No, no, Yev, come over here! Come on, buddy!" Mickey goaded, as he reached over to push Ian to the side.

Ian laughed and they tussled for a minute before going back to their original goal.

"No, he love his mother. Isn't that right, Yevgeny?" Svetlana cooed.

Yev's eyes lit up and he very slowly toddled over to his mother, falling at the end and letting her catch him. She pressed kisses all over his face and he squealed in delight, before she turned smugly to Ian and Mickey.

"See? Mother knows best. And I win, so Orange boy, you clean dishes and Husband, you bathe baby."

Both men groaned and started declaring that she had cheated and that it had been rigged. She just smirked and stood up before dropping the baby into Mickey's lap.

"I get ready for date. Nika takes me to dinner." She threw over her shoulder.

"Hey, that ho better treat you right!" Mickey called out, surprising Lip.

Who would have thought Mickey actually gave a shit about his wife?

Meanwhile, Ian had grabbed the toddler and was talking to him.

"Yevvy, where's…Mommy?"

"Mama!" Yev declared .

The toddler bounced a little and pointed in the direction Svetlana had gone.

"Good job! Ok, where's…Papa?"

Yev turn to Mickey and held his hands out, demanding for Mickey to hold him. Mickey took the kid and continued the little game.

"Where's Daddy at, buddy?" Mickey asked, and Lip was confused. The kid was already in Mickey's arms.

But then Yevgeny pointed at Ian. And Ian gasped playfully and then it was his turn to press kisses all over the kids face. 

"Yay! That's everyone, Yev! Good job, buddy!"

The kid laughed and started poking at Ian's nose.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

Lip felt like he was seeing some southside version of a nuclear family. Instead of Mommy, Daddy, and their white picket fence, it was Mommy, Daddy, Papa, Mommy's girlfriend, and their house that now smelled more like baby powder then meth.

And that was…more then any of the Gallaghers had ever gotten. They'd never had any real parents, besides Fiona. Meanwhile this kid had gotten the fucking variety pack.

He left as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb the moment. Fiona was out of her mind if she thought they were taking advantage of Ian. He wasn't being used as a live-in babysitter, he was just a parent. And that meant that Lip had a nephew he needed to spend some time with.

__

Despite Lip insisting that Ian was happy and fine, Fiona hadn't been satisfied. She wanted to sent in the next Gallagher. 

Carl decided to show up using the excuse that he needed advice from Mickey.

He knew they were home, but he couldn't find them in the house. He looked through the kitchen and living room, but they were deserted.

"MICKEY? IAN?" He called.

Suddenly he heard a hissed shushing noise coming from the doorway to Mickey's bedroom. Ian and Mickey were trying to tiptoe out of the room, closing the door as slowly as possible. They both winced when the door clicked shut, and everyone was very still for a few seconds. When there was no commotion from behind the door, Mickey and Ian both exhaled and relaxed.

"Jesus christ, man. That kid is gonna be grumpy as all hell when he wakes up." Mickey sighed.

Ian, realizing that Carl had no clue what they were talking about, explained.

"Yev was supposed to go down for his nap an hour ago. But he didn't want to sleep in his bed, he wanted to sleep in our bed with us. Anytime we tried to move, he started crying and telling us to come back. We finally got him asleep enough to let us leave, though."

Mickey flopped down onto the couch, rubbing a hand over his face. Ian sat down next to him and Mickey laid down, putting his feet in Ian's lap. Ian started massaging Mickey's feet like it was just instinct for him now.

"What are you here for anyways?" Mickey grouched.

"Um," He stumbled. "I wanted to ask you about something, but…I forgot what."

Ian snorted and raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, whatever man. Look, we're about to take a fucking nap just like the kid, so unless you can remember real quick, you gotta go." Mickey insisted.

Ian reached over and shoved Mickey.

"Leave him be," Ian scolded before turning back to Carl. "Sorry, its not just Yev who gets grumpy when hes late for a nap."

Mickey scowled but didn't bother arguing back.

"Its alright, I'll just come back some other time. Thanks, guys."

Carl was headed out the door when he heard Ian speak back up.

"Come on, Mick. We got about an hour and a half before Yev wakes up and you haven't been sleeping well."

"Not my fault your cold ass feet wake me up. Wear fucking socks."

"My feet aren't cold! You're just…"

Carl left to the sound of the couple bickering, having seen nothing but a pair of tired fathers. He wished his parents had bickered about stuff like that instead of who hid the meth or who popped the last pill. 

__

When it was finally Fiona's turn to try and find something, Mickey wasn't even there. He must have had Yevgeny with him because it was just Ian and Svetlana. She had brought a plate of cookies over as her excuse, but Ian and Svetlana were too into the video game they were playing. 

Ian was sprawled out on the floor, lanky limbs going in every direction, and Lana was on the couch, hunched over in concentration. They were playing some shooting game, and it was hard to tell who was winning.

"I find you, Orange boy," Lana taunted as her onscreen character shot Ians. "You can not hide."

"Fuck! No, I'm still winning!" Ian groaned.

"Barely! And that's only because you cheat when I run to bathroom." She scoffed.

"It's not cheating! It's using all my advantages!"

Ian grinned even as Svetlana reached over and smacked his arm.

"Cheating!" She insisted. 

The screen suddenly changed and 'Time Limit Reached - TIE' displayed on the screen.

Svetlana let off a curse in russian and Ian cackled from his place on the floor.

She was about to make herself known when the door behind her suddenly creaked open and she saw Mickey struggling to get Yevgeny's stroller in while balancing eggs in one hand.

"Ay," He called as he saw her. "A little help?"

She saw Ian and Svetlana both turn toward the door, and she tried to make it seem like she had just walked in with Mickey and not like she had been there the entire time. She grabbed the eggs from him and stepped back to clear the walkway as he managed to get the stroller through the door.

"I got your fucking eggs, you bums!"

Ian and Svetlana grinned at each other, and Svetlana walked over to grab the eggs from Fiona before heading to the kitchen. Ian helped Mickey get the kid out of the stroller.

"Lana has some recipes she remembers that she wants to try," Ian explained as Yev settled on his hip.

"I brought cookies," She offered. "I could help cook?" 

"Yeah right," Mickey sighed. "She once threatened to chop our dicks off if we so much as touched one of her recipes."

She was trying to think of other reasons she could stay, so she'd have longer to find something when the door opened yet again.

This time it was more than one person. Mandy, Iggy, and a few other Milkovich brothers and cousins.

"Hey Svet," Called one of the brothers she recognized as Colin."I found our moms cookbook! Think you can make some of the shit in it?"

They all started bickering about what recipes they wanted made, shoving and teasing each other.

"She's our wife, we get to choose first!" Mickey insisted as he snatched the book and started going through it with Ian.

Iggy snorted as he plopped down on a couch.

"You hear this shit? 'Our wife', like she's the fucking communal wife now or some shit?"

The family spread out and soon every seat was taken up by a Milkovich. Fiona felt a little like she was suffocating with how many of them managed to fit into one room, but Ian looked right at home. They all ribbed each other, joking and laughing about stupid shit. Ian didn't look like he was crowded or uncomfortable. 

He looked like he was happy.

She set her cookies on the coffee table and was about to leave when she heard Svetlana call for her from the kitchen. Svetlana already had bowls of ingredients everywhere and the oven preheating. She looked at Fiona for a long moment before she spoke.

"…Orange boy and Husband have had hard life. Not as hard as mine though. I pay attention. I notice things they do not. And I know when I'm being watched. What I want to know is why your family is spying on ours." She said with an edge to her voice, and Fiona knew that somehow, they'd been found out. 

"Look, it's not about you. We're worried about Ian and-"

"Orange boy is happy here," She cut Fiona off. "Happy with baby and husband. He is father to Yevgeny, and I know my son will not have to worry about having either father sell him for drug money. Husband is happiest he has been. We have a life together, all of us. We take care of each other. "

Svetlana was quiet for another moment, letting what she just said sink in.

"…Husband was piece of shit at first. Things were bad. We all hated each other. Never held his son, never did anything. Fighting between us, all the time over everything. Then Orange boy is here. He cares for baby, helps feed and change and soothe baby. Husband starts to help. We start to get along. Now, we are family. Orange boy, Husband, Baby, and me. We all care for each other. Husband works hard to make sure have we money to feed baby and get medicine for Orange boy, and we keep a close eye, to make sure Yevgeny stays safe and that Orange boy isn't sick. "

Fiona didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected all of this.

"But you won't even say their names!" She tried. "You can't be family with someone whose name you won't even say!"

Svetlana turned to her with ice in her eyes.

"Ian will stay here, with Mickey and Yevgeny and I. He is ours, and he belongs here. We keep him safe and happy. When he goes to visit, he comes home angry and upset. He says nobody trusts him, that you all treat him like a child or say he is like your mother." She glares. "If you try to take Ian, or force him to leave, we will come save him. And then we will leave. All of us. We will go where nobody threatens our family."

"That's not fair! We just-"

"Fiona." A voice from behind her and she turned to see Ian standing in the doorway with Yevgeny falling asleep on his shoulder. "She's right."

She didn't know how long he had been there, but clearly it had been long enough. He looked at ease with the kid, like he had done it a million times.

"Ian, We just wanted to make sure you were safe. We thought you were being taken advantage of. Every time we see you, you have their kid or you're doing their errands and-"

"That's your first mistake." He said calmly, making sure not to disturb the baby who was puffing tiny breaths onto his neck. "You keep saying their. Yevgeny is _our_ kid, and I run _our_ errands. I'm not just here for the ride. When a decision is made involving one of us, we all have a say. Svetlana runs the Rub and Tug and Mickey got a job at a garage." He said, sounding proud. "We decided it would be best for me to be the one to do the stay at home thing so that I didn't have to worry about how my bipolar might affect my job. And before you ask, yes, we have a backup in place in case I hit a low and can't get out of bed. So I run our errands, and watch our son, and they keep a roof over our heads, and food on our table. Is it really so hard to believe that we're a family?"

"But we're your family!" Fiona insisted.

Ian looked at her with something akin to pity in his eyes.

"Fi, of course you're my family. You guys always will be. But I have my own life. Did you think we were all going to live in that house on Wallace forever?"

"But Ian-"

"Look, I love you guys. I do. But you have to understand. After everything I've done, and everything I've been through, this is what I want. And I'm happy. Can't that be enough for you?"

She watched as Ian's face turned pleading, and she knew. If it came down to it, he would stay with his new family. If she tried to make him choose, he wouldn’t pick her. Not anymore. He had grown and changed and somehow, she had missed it. And she wouldn't push him away and miss even more.

"…Yeah, sweetface. That can be enough."

**Author's Note:**

> I know this ends kind of abruptly, but like I said, it was written a while ago. I found it sitting in a folder somewhere and just added an ending. 
> 
> Leave me a comment so I can that sweet sweet rush of peer validation that we all crave ♥


End file.
